Paterson unveils plan to add 100 megawatts of solar in New York

Gov. David Paterson today announced a plan to add 100 megawatts worth of solar electric systems in New York state within the next four years.

Paterson's plan would add 100 MW of solar electric production

The plan will go through the New York Power Authority, which has issued a request-for-proposals from developers, who are being asked to build the systems on the roofs of schools and government buildings.

To put 100 megwatts in perspective, the average home solar electric system might be 4 or 5 kilowatts. One megawatt is 1,000 kilowatts, so 100 megawatts has the ability to power the same as 20,000 homes.

The NYPA will provide 20-year power contracts to the developers.

Proposals are due in April, and selections will be made in September. It’s possible that one or many developers could be selected.

Here’s is Paterson’s news release about the initiative, and here is a Syracuse Post-Standard story about Paterson’s announcement, which was made at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse.

Paterson said in the release that the addition of 100 megwatts would more that quintuple the amount of solar electricity currently generated in the state.

Larry Rulison

7 Responses

OOohhhhh…I was wondering what he was planning to do with my raise!!! Lets invest in an enormously expensive, not so efficient (we’re in NYS not Arizona)technology, in a state that already gets close to 15% of its power from renewable hydro-power. Way to go David!

NO.NO.NO.
solar PVs are cash cows & not green
look at nellis and all the others.
nellis afb cost $100m to make $1m worth of electricity a year & the panels last 20 years. thats a loss of $80m.
or a $100 panel puts out @ 20 cents for a kw @120volts $50 worth of power.
yet another falling for the solar scheem.
& not green by the way there made.

Look, Investing in Green Energy technologies on site, is a great way to save money, promote new jobs, and secure our energy independence on a local level. Not to mention “locking in” an energy rate that we can count on and depend on for the future.

To address the comments above.
1. NYS is not that inefficient, in fact we receive 4.3 hours per day (average) of “good sun” compared to 6.9 in AZ. Germany (which is the biggest solar market in the world) by comparison only receives 3.3 hours per day (average). The 15% from hydro is a pittance, and if you look at the flip side that means we are getting 85% from other non-renewable sources (yes, there is about 3% from wind…) And since most hydro power is transmitted over great distances, you lose nearly 40% of the generated power to heat in the lines… Generating it at the source is the most effective way to grasp the energy created.

2. RIGHT ON!

3. Your comment is full of mis-information. I can’t speak for nellis afb, but installed solar costs less than $8/watt, not the $100/watt you are quoting… Call or email me if you want to chat more.

4. Good point on the energy efficiency. That is Step 1 in being sustainable. After those upgrades are made, then the Renewable Energy production required is much less. Secondly, the energy won’t be wasted in the buildings, but our costs as taxpayers will be less.

your numbers are all wrong.
let’s do the numbers shall we.
a 100 watt 12volt panel cost about $500 is 10 watts at 120volt X 4 hours = 40 watts X 365 = 14,240 X 20 years = 184,800 @ 20 cents a kw about what we pay now = almost $40 worth of power,,, for $500.
the trick here is they count eash 12 volt panel, it takes 10 panels to make 120volt.
just like nellis, it takes 100 years to payback, buy the way the penels last about 20 years, less with trackers.
it gets worse then that -10 for inverter & -20% for batterys
PVs are not smart or green

Both George and Rodney raise good points. As someone who has overseen several large commercial PV projects in NYS, I would offer the following:

George is correct that in any one year (in NY) a PV system only makes up 1/80 to 1/100 of its initial cost (disregarding any incentives), and that at present any PV project is clearly net carbon positive.

Rodney is correct that distribution losses are significant, and there is definitely a future for PV in NYS, especially as conversion efficiency improves and implementation costs decrease. However, he should also consider the contribution of nukes in the NY electric market in the recognition that about 40% of our generation is carbon neutral at present.

The problem with spending $100M on PV right now is that there is about $3 – 4B of potential “no regrets” energy efficiency projects in state and local government buildings (including schools). These projects should be completed before any PV is considered.